Apparatus for forming fabric blanks

ABSTRACT

A nest plate assembly for an apparatus for forming fabric blanks comprising a nest plate having two end portions and a removable intermediate portion which may be made in various lengths for forming blanks of various sizes. The nest plate is supported by a carriage assembly including two separate supporting structures holding the end portions of the nest plate, and means are provided for moving the supporting structures for sliding the two end portions of the nest plate towards or away from each other for positioning a predetermined intermediate portion of the nest plate between the end portions thereof. The nest plate has a cavity shaped in accordance with the finished blank and a punch assembly is provided for inserting a somewhat larger blank into the cavity of the nest plate. The punch assembly comprises four punch sections overlapping each other and arranged to form a four corner punch assembly, A head structure is provided for supporting the punch assembly and includes two separate plates slidably mounted towards or away from each other. To each one of such plates are attached two punch sections for permitting adjustment of the length of the punch assembly to suit the length of the nest plate assembly. Screw means are secured to the head structure and connected to the plates for easily adjusting the length of the punch assembly.

nite 1 Schramayr et a1.

[ APPARATUS FOR FORMING FABRIC BLANKS [76] Inventors: Ernst Schramayr, 4Place Dubois, Dollard des Ormeaux, Quebec; Wolfgang Geisinger, 180Paradis Street, Rosemere, Quebec, both of Canada [22] Filed: Aug. 3,1970 [21] Appl. No.2 60,420

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Substitute for SenNo. 841,884, July15, 1969.

[52] -U .S.l.'... ..223/38 [51] Int. Cl. ..A4lh 33/00 [58] Field ofSearch; ..223/l, 2, 38, 52, 223/521; 112/147 [56] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 1,906,499 5/1933 Thomas ..223/38 2,929,537 3/1960Price et a1. ..223/38 2,394,219 2/1946 Vachon ....223/38 X 1,086,4222/1914 Tucker ..223/38 1,386,676 8/1921 Anthony... ....223/38 X2,032,830 3/1936 Biddle 223/38 2,317,817 4/1943 Silverman..... 223/382,122,303 6/1938 Tolen et al. 223/38 1,883,343 10/1932 Dixon ....223/381,758,127 5/1930 Roby ..-....22 3/38 States Paten 91 PrimaryExaminer-Geo. V. Larkin Attorney-Raymond A. Robic STRACT A nest plateassembly for an apparatus for forming fabric blanks comprising a nestplate having two end portions and a removable intermediate portion whichmay be made in various lengths for forming blanks of various sizes. Thenest plate is supported by a carriage assembly including two separatesupporting structures holding the end portions of the nest plate, andmeans are provided for moving the supporting structures for sliding thetwo end portions of the nest plate towards or away from each other forpositioning a predetermined intermediate portion of the nest platebetween the end portions thereof. The nest plate has a cavity shaped inaccordance with the finished blank and a punch assembly is provided forinserting a somewhat larger blank into the cavity of the nest plate. Thepunch assembly comprises four punch sections overlapping each other andarranged to form a four corner punch assembly, A head structure isprovided for supporting the punch assembly and includes two separateplates slidably mounted towards or away from each other. To each one ofsuch plates are attached two punch sections for permitting adjustment ofthe length of the punch assembly to suit the length of the nest plateassembly. Screw means are secured to the head structure and connected tothe plates for easily adjusting the length of the punch assembly.

I 4 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures- I PATENTEBHAY I 3,730,404

' SHEET 1 [IF 7 g0 IE-512; /2

/9 Ernst SCHRAMA YR Wolfgang 65/57 65 7 M ATTORNEY INVENTOR PATENTEDHAYH 3.730.404

SHEET 3 or 7 INVENTOR 5M5: S'HRAMA YR Wolfgang GE/S/NGER PAIENTEDVHAY H3,730,404

' INVENTOR frnst SCI/RAMA YR Wolfgang 6E! SINGER PATENTED MY 1 3973SHEET 8 BF 7 INVENTOR [rnst SCHRAMA YR W "9 GE/Sl/VGER PATENTEU 1 5SHEET 7 'UF 7 INVENTOR frns b SCI/RAMA YR wvlfgany GE/Sl/V GER ATTORNEYAPPARATUS FOR FORMING FABRIC BLANlKS This is a division of U.S. Pat.application Ser. No. 84l,884, filed July 15,1969.

This invention relates to an apparatus for forming fabric blanks suchas, for example, collar bands.

Such machines usually comprise a nest plate having an opening thereinshaped in accordance with the shape of the finished blanks and overwhich a blank somewhat larger than the opening is positioned. Acollapsible punch assembly is adapted to be inserted into the opening ofthe nest plate to force the blank through the opening against a pressureplate thereby causing the bordering portion of the blank to bend atright angles to the body thereof because of its engagement with theedges of the opening. The machine further comprises infolders forfolding the bordering portion of the blank over the top edge of thepunch assembly. A mechanism is also provided for collapsing the punchassembly for withdrawing the same from underneath the bordering portionof the blank. Finally, the pressure plate positioned in theabove-mentioned opening is moved upwardly to press the edge of the blankagainst the infolders.

The problem encountered with most of these machines is that differentnest plates are often provided for each size of blanks. Although somemachines have been provided with means for varying the length of thenest plates without having to replace the full nest plates, such meansare not easily adjustable.

It is therefore the main feature of the invention to provide an improvedapparatus for forming fabric blanks of various length wherein the nestplate is made of two end portions of fixed dimensions which may bedisplaced with respect to each other and of an intermediate portion thelength of which may be varied depending on the size of the blank. Thisis particularly useful in the manufacture of collar bands wherein theends of the collar bands do not vary in shape. The length of theintermediate portion of the blank only needs to be varied to obtainvarious sizes of bands.

It is also a feature of the invention to provide means for moving thetwo end portions of the nest plate in synchronism thereby permittingeasy adjustment of the nest plate. The intermediate portion of the nestplate is removable and may be changed to suit various sizes of blanks.

It is a further feature of the invention to provide means for easilyadjusting the punch assembly for matching the various sizes of nestplates.

The nest plate assembly, in accordance with the invention, comprises anest plate having two end portions and a removable intermediate portionas mentioned above. The nest plate is supported by a carriage assemblyincluding two supporting structures holding the end portions of the nestplate and means are provided for moving the supporting structures forsliding the two end portions of the nest plate towards or away from eachother for positioning an intermediate portion of the nest plate betweenthe end portions thereof.

The carriage assembly includes two shafts secured to the apparatus. Oneof the shafts is threaded through the above-mentioned supportingstructures for permitting movement of the supporting structures uponrotation of the one shaft. Such permits movement of the end portions ofthe nest plate in synchronism and thus an easy adjustment of such endportions.

The nest plate has a cavity shaped in accordance with the finishedblanks and a punch assembly is provided for inserting a somewhat largerblank into the cavity. The punch assembly comprises four punch sectionsoverlapping each other and arranged to form a four corner punchassembly. A head structure including two separate plates is provided forsupporting the punch assembly. The plates are movable towards or awayfrom each other and to each one is secured two punch sections therebypermitting to longitudinally slide two punch sections with respect tothe other two punch sections to suit the cavity of the nest plates.

The invention will now be disclosed more clearly in the followingdetailed description, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of apreferred embodiment thereof which, however, is to be taken by way ofexample only. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the machine in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 2 is -a partially sectional side view of the machine illustratingthe movement of the head structure thereof and some of the elementssurrounding the nest plate;

FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of the folder plate carriage assembly andof the nest plate;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the head structure of the machine;

FIGS. 5 to 7 illustrate the structure and operation of the collapsiblepunch assembly;

FIGS. 8 to 12 illustrate the sequential operation of the machine inaccordance with the invention; and

FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate a device for picking up the finished blanksand for delivering them to a tray located at the side of the apparatus.

In FIG. 1 of the drawings, there is illustrated a machine 10 for formingfabric blanks comprising generally a head structure 11 supporting acollapsible punch assembly 12 shown in a lowered position into thecavity of a nest plate 13. A pick-up arm 14 is also shown for deliveringthe finished fabric blanks to a side tray 15 in a known manner. There isfurther illustrated in dashed lines a control panel 16 which does notform part of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates, in full lines, the head structure 11 in a retractedposition wherein the collapsible punch 12 is raised from the cavity ofthe nest plate 13. The head structure 11 is supported, as it will bedisclosed more fully in a later part of the description, by a bar 17which is pivotally connected to a piston 18 operated by a cylinder 19.The end of bar 17 which is located opposite the head structure isprovided with a roller 20 which is adapted to slide in a slot 21 in aguiding member 22 which is pivotally mounted on the structure of themachine. Upon actuation of piston 18, head structure I1 is movedupwardly from its lowermost position illustrated in dashed lines to theintermediate position illustrated in full lines. During the upwardmovement of the head structure 11, the roller 20 of bar 17 slides inslot 21 until it reaches the upper end of slot 21. Upon further movementof piston 18, head structure l 1 pivots to the inclined uppermostposition shown in dashed lines while guiding member 22 rotates slightlyclockwise to permit the pivotal movement of head structure 11. Suchpivotal movement of head structure 11 is provided for permitting theoperator to length for forming blanks of various sizes. The nest plateis supported by a carriage assembly indicated generally by numeral andincluding two shafts 31 and 32. Shafts 31 and 32 pass through twoseparate supporting structures 33 (only one shown) holding the endportions 13a of the nest plate as it will be explained later. Shaft 32is threaded and engages threads of opposite directions in supportingstructures 33 for permitting movement of supporting structure 33 on theright hand side of the right hand side of the machine towards thecorresponding supporting structure 33 on the left hand side of themachine upon rotation of handle 35 in synchronism.

Uponeach supporting structure 33 is secured two elongated members 36which support the end portions 13a of the nest plate 13 (see also FIG.2). Movement of the supporting structures thus permits the sliding ofthe end portions of the nest plate for positioning an intermediateportion 13b in between the end portions 13a. Intermediate portion 13b isshown as being secured to the ends of elongated members 36 but it couldbe secured directly to the carriage assembly.

A heating element 37 passes through elongated members 36 to heat up thenest plate 13 as required to effect the blank forming operation.

At each end of supporting structure 33 is secured a raising plate 38(which may not be required) for supporting a folder plate actuator 34.Actuator 34 includes two bushings 39 and 40 secured to plate 38 and amovable block 41 secured to a piston 42. An hydraulic cylinder 43 slidespiston 42 and block 41 in bushings 39 and 40. A folder plate 44 issecured to each block 41 and is consequently moved by the actuation ofcylinder 43 in a direction such as to move towards or away from eachother two diagonally opposite folder plates 44. Such diagonal movementof two opposite folder plates 44 performs the folding operation of thebordering portion of the blank over the back edge of the collapsiblepunch to form the hem portion of the blank, as mentioned previously.

Folder plates 44, in a manner similar to nest plate 13, comprise anexchangeable intermediate portion 45 which may be of various lengths formaking blanks of various dimensions.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, a pressure plate having an elongateddovetail portion is located between elongated members 36 and is securedto an elongated bar 51 having an undercut slot 52 matching the dovetailportion of plate 50. The pressure plate 50 is covered by a sheet ofTeflon material 53 and is movable upwardly under the action of piston 54for pressing the blanks as it will be disclosed more fully in the laterpart ofthe description.

Pressure plate 50 is also made oftwo end parts and of an exchangeablecenter part for making blanks of various lengths. It may be positionedlongitudinally by sliding it into slot 52 in elongated bar 51.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the head structure of the machine includes abar 17, as mentioned previously, to which is secured a plate 60 carryingtwo end plates 61 which are mounted to plate by means of L-shapedmembers 63 and 64. Each plate 61 is movable longitudinally on plate 60by means of a screw 65 which is rotatably mounted on plate 60 andengages a threaded block 66 secured to plate 61. The function of screw65 will be mentioned later on in the description.

To each plate 61 is secured two pairs of angle members 67 and 68 holdinga rod 69 upon which slides a block 70 carrying rollers 70a which bear onplate 61 and prevent tilting of the block 70. The two blocks 70 locatedon each plate 61 are operated by levers 71 which are pivotallyinterconnected at one end and pivotally connected at their other ends tothe respective blocks 70. A lever 72 is secured at one end to a shaft 73and pivotally connected at its other end to the interconnected ends oflevers 71. Rotation of shaft 73 causes movement of the levers 71 and 72in such a way as to slide blocks 70 on rods 69.

Shafts 73 are rotated by levers 74 having end rollers 75 which slideinto slots 76 of a cross-member 77 when such cross-member is moved in adirection parallel to the longitudinal axis of arm 17 by a cylinder 78.

An under-cut member 79 is secured to each block 70 and supports adovetail member 80 to which is fastened an angle member 81 supportingthe collapsible punch assembly 12 which has been mentioned briefly inthe description of FIG. 1 and will be disclosed more fully in a laterpart of the description.

Referring to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, it is seen that members 79 move withblocks 70 in a direction making an angle a with the longitudinal axis ofmember 79 to collapse the punch assembly 12 which is made of sections82-85 overlapping each other. Each of the sections 82-85 has twoupwardly bent portions which are secured to a corresponding downwardlybent portion of angle member 81 also illustrated in FIG. 4. In addition,post members 86 support the ends of sections 83 and to prevent suchportions from being bent during operation. It is easily seen that duringthe movement of blocks 70, two diagonally opposite sections 82-84 and8385 of the punch assembly are displaced towards or away from eachother.

Although the overall shape of the punch is one of a shirt collar, it isto be understood that other punch configurations are also possible. Thisalso applies to the shape of the nest plate 13.

The screw 65 illustrated in FIG. 4 permits to move plates 61 towards oraway from each other and at the same time slide the two portions 83 and84 of the punch assembly on its other two portions 82 and 85 so as topermit forming of blanks of various lengths. In addition, dovetailmember 80 is slidable within under-cut member 79 in such a way as tofurther vary the amount of longitudinal overlapping of the sections 82to 85 of the collapsible punch assembly 12 if required.

The operation of the apparatus so far described will be disclosed withreference to FIGS. 8-12. At the beginning of each forming operation, thecollapsible punch assembly 12 is fully extended and its dimensions areslightly smaller than the size of the cavity of nest plate 13. Anoversize pre-cut fabric blank 87 is positioned over nest plate 13 andcollapsible punch assembly I2 is lowered into the cavity of the nestplate 13 to force the oversize blank 87 into the cavity of the nestplate 13 thereby causing the bordering portion of the oversize blank 87to fold along the inside walls of the nest plate 13. The folding plates44 are then operated in the direction indicated in FIG. of the drawingsfor folding the bordering portion of the blank 87 over the back edge ofthe collapsible punch to form a hem portion. The punch assembly 12 isthen collapsed as indicated in FIG. 11 and pressure plate 50 is movedupwardly to press the hem portion of the blank against the edge of thefolder plate 44. Finally, the collapsible punch assembly 12 is raised,the folder plates 44 are withdrawn and the blank 87 is ejected. Suchejection may be done by means of a pin 88 or by any other suitablemeans.

If after having made a number of blanks of a predetermined size it isdesired to make blanks of a different size, the intermediate portion 13bof the nest plate is replaced by different one and the end portions 13aare moved in position by handle 35. The punch assembly is subsequentlyadjusted by means of screws 65. Referring to FIGS. 13 and 14, theapparatus in accordance with the invention, may further comprise an arm14 for picking up the ejected blanks 87 and for carryirig them to trayat the side of the apparatus. Arm 14 has a finger 91 fixed at one endthereof and is pivotally mounted at its other end to a bracket 92secured to the edge of the apparatus. A shaft 93 is secured to suchother end of arm 14 and is operated by piston 94 of cylinder 95 througha lever 96 for pivoting the arm 14 through an angle of approximately 90.Arm 14 has a rotatable shaft (not shown) mounted coaxially therewith andcarrying a rotatable finger 97 at one end thereof. The other end of therotatable shaft is secured to a block 98 carrying a roller 99 which isadapted to engage cams 100 and 101. Cam 100 causes the relative openingof fingers 91 and 97 for picking up the ejected blank 87 at the positionillustrated in dashed lines in FIG. 13. Upon rotation of arm 14, roller99 falls down cam 100 and fingers 91 and 97 are closed for holding blank87 and for carrying the same to tray 15. When arm 14 reaches theposition illustrated in FIG. 14 above tray 15, roller 99 engages cam 101and causes the relative opening of fingers 91 and 97 for releasing theblank located between the fingers.

It is to be understood that various modifications may be made to theembodiment disclosed without departing from the scope of the inventiondescribed in the following claims. In particular, the means for movingthe end portions of the nest plate could be modified in various ways andthe invention is intended to cover such modifications. In addition thetwo screws 65 used for adjusting the punch assembly could be combined ina single one for moving the two plates 61 in synchronism.

We claim:

1. In an apparatus for forming a fabric blank including a nest platehaving a cavity of variable size shaped in accordance with a finishedblank, a punch assembly for inserting a somewhat larger blank into saidcavity and comprising a. four punch sections overlapping each other andarranged to form a four corner punch assembly;

b. a head structure including two separate plates for supporting saidpunch assembly;

0. means for attaching two punch sections to each one of said plates;and d. screw means secured to said head structure and connected to saidplates for sliding the two punch sections attached to one plate towardsthe two punch sections attached to the other plate to match the lengthof the punch assembly to the length of the cavity of the nest plate.

2. A punch assembly as defined in claim 1, including means forcollapsing two diagonally opposite sections of said four corner punchassembly towards or away from each other so as to collapse or extendsaid punch assembly.

3. A punch assembly as defined in claim 2, wherein said means for movingtwo diagonally opposite punch sections includes two slide blockassemblies mounted underneath each of said plates, each slide blockassembly including a slide rod secured to said plates and a blockslidably mounted on said rod and holding one of the sections of saidfour corner punch assembly, and lever means for sliding said blockssimultaneously on said rods towards or away from each other.

4. A punch assembly as defined in claim 3, further comprising means forlowering and raising said head structure into and away from the cavityof said nest plate.

1. In an apparatus for forming a fabric blank including a nest plate having a cavity of variable size shaped in accordance with a finished blank, a punch assembly for inserting a somewhat larger blank into said cavity and comprising : a. four punch sections overlapping each other and arranged to form a four corner punch assembly; b. a head structure including two separate plates for supporting said punch assembly; c. means for attaching two punch sections to each one of said plates; and d. screw means secured to said head structure and connected to said plates for sliding the two punch sections attached to one plate towards the two punch sections attached to the other plate to match the length of the punch assembly to the length of the cavity of the nest plate.
 2. A punch assembly as defined in claim 1, including means for collapsing two diagonally opposite sections of said four corner punch assembly towards or away from each other so as to collapse or extend said punch assembly.
 3. A punch assembly as defined in claim 2, wherein said means for moving two diagonally opposite punch sections includes two slide block assemblies mounted underneath each of said plates, each slide block assembly including a slide rod secured to said plates and a block slidably mounted on said rod and holding one of the sections of said four corner punch assembly, and lever means for sliding said blocks simultaneously on said rods towards or away from each other.
 4. A punch assembly as defined in claim 3, further comprising means for lowering and raising said head structure into and away from the cavity of said nest plate. 